Brad Richards is Back in Tampa Bay!!!

We went to the hockey game the other night to see Brad Richards. He hooked up 2 suites and I think an entire section in the club level. We had a great time watching the game with our friends in the suite. Conner was there with his twin brothers and mom and her fiancée. Demetri was also there with his family. Please pray for both these families as both boys have relapsed and are going through a difficult battle.

Brad had a good game scoring a goal and getting a big assist. Vinny Lecavalier spoiled it in the end though with a rocket of a shot over the goalie’s, Marty Turco, shoulder that then dipped into the top corner for the go ahead with 5 minutes left.

Some people were torn as to who to cheer for, Brad “Con Smythe” Richards or the home team Tampa Bay Lightning. Our suite had it right cheering whenever Brad was on the ice. The loss is tough to swallow as vengeance would have been sweet, but Brad had nice production against his former team.
At the start of the first period they had a video tribute for Brad set to the tune, “Mama I’m Coming Home”. Yes I am inspired to make my own…

After the game we went to a room behind the restaurant Shots inside the St Pete Times Forum. There were at least 50 people in there waiting to say “Way to go Richey!” He rolled in with a grey suit and a purple tie and everyone cheered.

Everyone got to meet Anika and she had a great time. Adelaine and Peyton had not seen each other in a couple months and they ran around the room for about an hour. Catching up with friends from our cancer groups was fun.

I talked to Doug Vessel and Peter Mayhew for quite a while. Cancer dads have a special bond and it feels great to hang out with guys that have had to shoulder the burdens that you have had in your past. Especially the ones that were going through it at the same time you did.

Kasey Dowd, Brad’s wonderful assistant is recently engaged and was bubbly as always. Brad made his way around the room spending time with each and every family taking tons of pictures and signing hundreds fo autographs. I can not imagine doing this after playing such a physical game just a short time before. He was cool and relaxed as always.

He told me he had dinner the night before with Marty and Vinny at Berns Steakhouse , their traditional hang out hot spot before and after games. The 3 amigos together again in Tampa. That maybe the last time during the season that happens while they still are all playing as Vinny is the hottest trade talk of the season.

Rumor is that he will be going to his hometown team Montreal Canadiens before too long. Boy the new face of the ownership team of the Lightning has destroyed the lighting that we all knew and loved. Vinny and Marty are the only members left of the Stanley Cup winning team and soon it will probably be just Martin St Louis.

The crowd was very small for such a huge homecoming, much of which I guess goes to the ownership slashing players and coaches like they do in his horror movies. Brad got loud roars despite the small size of the crowd. I can only imagine how quiet the forum would have been on a Monday night had it not been the return of Hero.

Yes. He is a Hero. He goes way above and beyond in reaching out to pediatric cancer patients and their families here and in Dallas as well as military members and their families. Brad focuses his time energy and money on children and families that really need a respite from their lives.

Fact is, Brad Richards does a better job of spending time with the actual children than any other Celebrity that was related to the various pediatric cancer groups that we are and have been part of over the past 2 ½ years. Yes, others do dedicate much time, energy and money, Brad is number 1.
Anika should be back in a couple days. We are all missing her. Angela is missing her very much as they formed a tight bond right off the bat.

Mason got a report from his PE teacher that he is too skinny. According to all the charts he is average. According to the Wii Fit he is average. I guess the teacher is used to seeing all the overweight kids in class and a healthy fit kid is not normal anymore.

Bowen is shooting up right now as he goes through a growth spurt. He will sit and eat any kind of fruit all day long. Getting him to eat other things is a challenge as he often will decide before trying something that he does not like that food. Even though last time he ate more of that food than anyone else at the table. His, “I don’t like it”, statement often carries over to Adelaine as she adores Bowen. I guess wanting to eat only fruit is not all that bad.

Adelaine is the beautiful princess. It is hard to imagine that this time 2 years ago she was shiny bald and couldn’t get out of bed. Now she has beautiful golden blonde hair that comes down past her shoulders. Angela is starting to talk about a haircut for her. The last hair cut Adelaine got was Angela wielding the clippers to remove the remaining clumps being knocked out by chemo over 2 years ago.

Preschool suits Adelaine extremely well. She does not like days off as she misses her little friends. She told me yesterday that Dillon is her boyfriend now. I told her she has to love me more than any other boy until the day she gets married. She said, “Daddy, I will always love you more than any other boy EVER!” I think Angela has taught her how to win discussions with me.

Anika has been fairly quiet and is very sweet. She is also very smart, fitting in very well with the other miniature geniuses living here. She is a welcome addition to our family.

Angela is as beautiful as always. She helps her friend Angie out at the Saturday Morning Market on Saturdays. She brings home bags and bags of fresh organic fruits and vegetables in exchange for her time.

I have been riding my bicycle 10-15 miles 3-4 times per week for a while. I also hit the weights a coupld days a week. I have kept my weight off that I have lost and am now hovering around 219. I peeked out around 260 this summer so, I have done pretty well if I do say so myself.

I do plan on getting to 199. It will be cool to be out of the “Terrible 2’s” as I am now calling my goal. I always do a caffeine / soda cleanse after the Superbowl. I anticipate making a big stride towards my goal once that starts.

We looked at increasing our Life insurance earlier this year. I was too heavy to rate well. They told me that I needed to be under 233 for my height to get the best rates. Well I am there know so I went out and started the process for getting more insurance today. Once again, I tried an online comparison site to get the best possible rates. Yes, I was able to save quite a bit and will also add to Angela’s insurance through this same site. You should check it out yourself and see if for no other reason that the insurance you already have is the best. If you don’t have life insurance, or enough life insurance, things happen protect your loved ones. Click Herefill in the information, and compare. It takes less than 5 minutes to get piece of mind.

Doug,
Thank you so much for leaving the link to your Brad Richards’ Tribute. I read your post and was so touched I had to write a post of my own linking to it. I hope you don’t mind! If you would rather I didn’t link to your blog let me know and I will rewrite the post. Just drop me an email.

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